2020 Round 8: West Coast 111 Collingwood 45

THE FACTS

2020 AFL Round 9 COLLINGWOOD v FREMANTLE Time & Place: Sunday August 2, 6:10 PM AEST Perth Stadium TV: Fox Footy Weather: 9°-18° Chance of rain: 0% 0mm Wind: ENE 26kph Betting: Collingwood TBC Fremantle TBC

WEST COAST          2.0.12    7.2.44   13.2.80   18.3.111
COLLINGWOOD      4.2.26    5.3.33     5.6.36       6.9.45

GOALS - Collingwood: Cameron 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Elliott, Daicos

BEST - Collingwood: Adams, Treloar, Crisp, Quaynor

INJURIES - Collingwood: Pendlebury (quad) replaced in selected side by Bosenavulagi

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD - 24,824 at Perth Stadium

What The Pies Coach Said “I commented in the box, we played our Washington Generals role really well today to the West Coast Globetrotters. They looked like they grew in confidence and in dare. They were really clean in everything they did and we were the opposite. That’s an outlier performance for us as a team and an outlier performance for the games we’ve seen in 2020. They’ve rarely been that one-sided and it only happens when one side is right on and one side is right off.” – Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley

Media Clippings Daily Telegraph West Coast re-emerged as a leading premiership threat on Sunday night, slicing through Collingwood’s vaunted defence to win by 66-points in a ruthless performance at Optus Stadium. The injury-hit Magpies conceded their highest score of the season, giving up an early 20-point lead before losing 18.3 (111) to 6.9 (45) as the Eagles burst into the top four. West Coast made their move in a scintillating third quarter, kicking six unanswered goals as their star-studded midfield made short work of the Magpies’ onball brigade, which was missing captain Scott Pendlebury, who suffered calf tightness minutes before the first bounce. West Coast produced their best football this season on the back of champion forward Josh Kennedy, who booted an AFL season-high seven goals, ruckman Nic Naitanui, and star recruit Tim Kelly (30 disposals and six clearances). It was a reality check for the Magpies, whose only goal for the second half came with two minutes to play. Fox Footy West Coast have put in a masterful display to defeat Collingwood by 66 points, 18.3 (111) to 6.9 (45), at Optus Stadium on Sunday. Collingwood got off to a flying start in the first quarter, but a superb performance from Nic Naitanui in the ruck and a seven-goal performance from Josh Kennedy in the forward line overwhelmed the Pies. The Pies were hit by the loss of skipper Scott Pendlebury just minutes before the opening bounce due to quad tightness, while the Eagles were without Jeremy McGovern after a late change. The Pies brought in Atu Bosenavulagi, who had to complete a warm-up in the changerooms before emerging onto the sidelines to get ready to go onto the field. Darcy Cameron booted the first goal for the Pies after a 50-metre penalty, before a roving Nic Naitanui snapped and scored for the Eagles. Cameron scored again for the Pies as part of a four goal opening term against West Coast, who managed just two. The Eagles roared back into the contest in the second quarter, with Josh Kennedy kicking his fourth goal of the half to give his side the lead. Picking up where they left off in the third quarter, the Eagles kicked a couple of quick goals to extend their lead, before piling on the next four goals, keeping Collingwood to just three behinds and entering three-quarter time with a 44-point lead. AFL Brodie Grundy must have felt like he was on the receiving end of another West Coast double act… just like the 2018 Grand Final. Well beaten by Scott Lycett and Nathan Vardy that day, the dual Virgin Australia All-Australian was taken apart by Nic Naitanui and Oscar Allen on Sunday. The Eagles won the clearances 32-24 and Grundy collected just 10 disposals – well down on his season average of 17. As Nic Naitanui pulled out the party tricks in the third term, it forced the Pies to throw its team around and start Grundy in attack in the fourth quarter. With the Pies' next four games inside 14 days, it will be interesting to see how they manage their star big man.  The Age The injury–ravaged Pies were dealt a cruel blow in the lead up to opening siren, losing captain Scott Pendlebury to a quad injury. Already missing Jordan de Goey, Jeremy Howe and Steele Sidebottom (among others), Collingwood could ill afford to lose the class of Pendlebury in the midfield. He completed the warm up, but went down to the rooms just before the teams started to spread out to start the game. The late swap for Atu Bosenavulagi must have been very close to the end of allowed time that a change could have taken place.